


Love Experiences

by curerhythm



Category: Inazuma Eleven, Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Fluff, High School, Love Confessions, M/M, Post-Canon, ibuki says fuck, mentions of that one girl from the nobunaga arc who had a crush on shindou in chrono stone, unrequited love except not really...?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29742414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curerhythm/pseuds/curerhythm
Summary: Shindou and Ibuki start chatting about their love life while taking a break from their high school studies but it turns into Shindou finding out something unexpected about Ibuki and his feelings.
Relationships: Ibuki Munemasa/Shindou Takuto
Kudos: 16





	Love Experiences

**Author's Note:**

> hiiii this is my first ever fic so I'm sorry if there's mistakes or anything that doesn't fit well :(
> 
> I hope you enjoy it tho, i'm in love with these two idiots.

It’s yet another afternoon at Ibuki’s household, yet another afternoon where Shindou and Ibuki are studying together at his bedroom. It has become a common occurrence for the two of them to be studying together, mostly because it’s always Ibuki who insists on it. Since the two are attending to the same high school and are in the same class, it’s no problem for Shindou to help Ibuki with his studies and if anything, he preferred this. It would give him a sense of relief to see Ibuki ask him for help in his studies because it would mean the boy has finally gotten used to asking for help when needed and not just trying to slam himself into everything like a blind horse.

The same scenario as always can be seen from Ibuki’s bedroom. The two boys sitting next to each other on the floor with a small floor desk in front of them, with a lot of books and other utilities on top of it. Shindou with a book on his hands, reading it to Ibuki in hopes that he’ll understand whatever he’s explaining while Ibuki has his own book in front of him, trying to decide between paying attention or snoozing. They’ve been at this for hours until the two finally decide to take a break before continuing. 

“I really don’t understand what our teachers are thinking. It’s no problem for me to study but they’ve given way too much material to go through. It’s not like we’re on our finals or anything.” Even though they’re on a break, Shindou hasn’t let go of his book. He’s still skimming through it, just to see what’s next. Ibuki stretches his arms for a while before he decides to lay down on the ground, closing his eyes and resting.

There’s a certain moment of peace and quiet in the room, until Ibuki decides to break it.

“Hey, Shindou.”  
“Mhm?”  
"Have you ever... been in love?" 

A surprising set of words escape Ibuki's lips. Shindou can't help but pause a bit and close his book before redirecting Ibuki with another question.  
"Why are you asking this? It's not like you to ask those kinds of things."  
"A-Am I not allowed to ask things now? I'm just curious..."  
It leaves him perplexed to see Ibuki asking about love, his own in particular, but he knows better than to continue hounding him about it. It is a question that does make him think, though. Was he ever in love? Did he ever feel love for someone? This leaves Shindou in deep thought, as he never truly thought too much about it. But there was one particular experience that does stick out to him when thinking about love.

"Hm, probably. Back then, I didn't really notice it but now... I guess I did feel love for someone before..."  
Ibuki switches positions to lay down on his side just to have a clear look at Shindou, he rests his face on the palm of his hand.  
"Oh, really? And who was the unlucky person?"  
The gray-haired boy rolls his eyes at Ibuki's jabs. "It was a girl I met in the past. Black hair tied up in a bun, black eyes, wore traditional clothes, was rather... old-fashioned but..." The boy pauses in deep thought before continuing.  
"She was very kind." 

Ibuki just stares at Shindou's serenely face as he talks about his previous experience.  
"An old-fashioned girl, huh. Never thought you'd be that kind of guy." Ibuki smirks.  
Shindou takes a little bit of offense at Ibuki's words following the smirk, he knows exactly what the basketball player is thinking about but he tries to not pay it any mind. Shindou's moment of annoyance gets cut off by Ibuki raising his voice once more.  
"And? Whatever happened in the end? I'd expect about any girl fall for you so I doubt you would've gotten rejected."  
‘Expect anyone to fall for him...?’ Shindou stays puzzled at Ibuki's choice of words but he doesn't dwell on it and simply gives him an answer to his question.  
"Well, the time we spent together was rather short. I had to leave her time perio- h-her town and since then, I've never seen her again. I remember I was rather broken hearted to have left her." The boy sighs in resignation, feeling slightly bothered from recalling those memories he had left aside. 

Despite Shindou's answer, Ibuki says nothing about it, which leaves the room in silence once again for a few seconds before Shindou goes ahead and breaks the silence with another question.  
"Well, how about you? Have -you- been in love before?" Shindou asks while crossing his arms, anticipating an answer.  
"H-Ha?! Why do you want to know?"  
"Am I not allowed to ask you things either?"

Ibuki clicks his mouth and goes back to laying down on his back, this time he puts his arms behind his head. Unlike Shindou, Ibuki's answer is very quick and precise.  
"Nope. Never fallen in love."  
"Well, considering how hard-headed you are, that's not very surprising" Playfully, his friend gives a smile. This sets Ibuki off slightly but he has no ammo to argue against Shindou because as much as he wishes he could deny it, he's totally right. Ibuki has always been the type to not care for the people around him, always doing things alone because he believed he didn't need anyone else. He believed he could do everything by himself. Which naturally led to him being uninterested in growing a bond with anyone, much less fall in love. Why would he want to bother with those kinds of things? He always thought to himself, his only desire ever was to succeed on his own.  
That is, until he met Shindou.

Ibuki sighs  
"I guess so. I was never interested in it but I've had a lot of people confess to me before for some reason. Love letters in lockers, date invites, confessions in person, and so on. I was never really interested on anyone so I always rejected them." Bashfully, Ibuki lowers his gaze. "I've had many times where friends of the people I'd reject would chew me out for doing so, it was pretty annoying. It’s not like it’s my duty to accept them."  
"Very popular, aren't you?" Shindou smiles. "Though, I can understand. Back at Raimon, I would get many presents and letters from many people as well. I remember Tenma being surprised at the bulk of chocolates I was given for Valentine's Day, I had to share most of it with the soccer club because there was no way I could make use of it all by myself." A giggle escapes him, fondly remembering his time at Raimon. 

Ibuki stares at Shindou intently, "Are you interested in anyone now?"  
"Why do you want to know so badly, Ibuki? No, I'm not interested on anyone."  
"... I see." The boy parts his eyes from Shindou and sits back up again, he takes one of the pencils laying around the desk and starts focusing on it, spinning it with his fingers.  
Faintly, Ibuki mutters something under his breath, "I guess you wouldn't be interested in me."  
"Did you say something?"  
"Oh, nope. Nothing. Nothing that the guy who likes old-fashioned girls would care about."  
The hell? Shindou thinks to himself. He's not sure but Ibuki has been acting weird ever since they started this convo. Is he trying to get something out of him? Shindou previously preferred to not insist on the reasons for this convo but now he's suspicious. 

"Ibuki, do you like someone currently?" 

Ibuki freezes, prompting him to stop playing around with his pencil. Shindou feels he might've hit the bullseye even though it was just a suspicion. The basketball player finally comes back to his senses and goes back to playing with his pencil, albeit he's messing up a lot more now.  
"What makes you think that? I already told you, no? I'm not interested in anyone." Ibuki attempts to do some damage control.  
"Hmm? Is that so? You think I'm dumb enough to not notice, Ibuki? Your face spells it all."  
Ibuki gets startled thanks to Shindou's words, enough for his pencil to clumsily fall off from his fingers. It's true, he can't seem to hide anything against Shindou. They've spent enough time together to know each other’s mannerisms. Ibuki was about to try explaining himself but his friend puts his hand up with just his index finger up, as if to tell him he doesn't need to say anything. 

"No, don't say a word. I don't need to know who it is. I just find it weird why you'd start this conversation with me when I barely have any romantic experience." Shindou shrugs, "If you wanted my advice, that's the one thing I can't assist you on. I apologize." Ibuki's nervousness gradually wipes out from his face only for it to be replaced with a feeling ranging from relief to disappointment. Shindou can read him like a book but man, is he dense.

"Anyway, I think we've had enough downtime so we should go back to studying. You don't want your grades to lower, after all." Shindou calmly opens his book once again to continue going from where they left off.  
A few moments of silence pass as Shindou reads his book while Ibuki hasn't even tried opening his book again or saying anything. Almost as if he's contemplating something. Shindou notices Ibuki hasn't opened his book, which leads him to call out to him.

"Ibuki? What's wrong? Don't tell me you don't want to continue studying..."

"Shindou."

"Yes?"

"I love you." 

"Yes, yes. Let's just conti- .......Huh?" It takes him a few seconds to process what Ibuki had just said.  
"Uh... As a friend? I'm glad you think that highly of me now-" Shindou's denial quickly gets interrupted by Ibuki, who on a bold move, decides to take Shindou’s hand next to him and looks at him directly in the eyes. Shindou instantly recognizes that fiery gaze of his, he's dead serious. 

"Why are you stupid now of all times?! You’re seriously telling me you can read my moods and what I’m thinking but can’t tell how I feel?! I love you, Shindou! You're the one I like! Don’t make me fucking say it again!" Despite Ibuki's focused stare and passionate words, he's deeply blushing and his hands are trembling a little. He didn't plan to confess just yet or at all but his friend's uncharacteristic obliviousness frustrated him so much that it led him to the edge.  
Shindou, just now, is starting to connect the dots. He can't help but feel deeply embarrassed by not noticing earlier that Ibuki's object of affection was none else other than Shindou Takuto. Ibuki holding his hand isn't doing much help either on his embarrassment. Shindou puts his free hand between them.

"Wait, wait. Give me a second to really grasp this situation." Shindou makes deep breaths. "So, you love me?"  
"Yes."  
"Can I... ask why?" 

"You're asking for a reason?! Ugh..." Ibuki timidly looks away as to save himself of the embarrassment too. "I don't know. The last thing I ever expected from myself was fall for you but... As we spent more time together, I guess I kind of did. I don't know when it started either. It could be before or after we came back to Earth, I genuinely don’t know.” 

Both of them are at a loss of words right now, Shindou doesn't know what to say at all while Ibuki doesn't even want to say anything, wishing the ground ate him right now. While the two remain in silence and in the same position for a moment, Ibuki breaks from his embarrassment and looks at Shindou once more. Shindou notices his friend is looking at him again, which tempts him to look at him in the eye as well.  
Both of them stay a solid minute looking at each other until Ibuki decides to grip Shindou's hand slightly harder, Shindou feels a chill from the feeling of Ibuki’s hands gripping him tightly. 

Ibuki finally gathers the courage to continue talking, "All I know is that I don't want you to end up with anybody else. I want to be the one to have won over your heart. I want... to be the only one for you. You’re the first person to make me feel this way so I don’t want to ever let you go." Ibuki's serious tone as he says this hits Shindou especially hard. Shindou can tell how serious Ibuki is being right now about his love towards him and frankly, it's really hard to let it sink in. He can tell how the ever prideful and confident Ibuki now feels unsure about whether Shindou will actually accept him or not. Shindou has been silent and inactive enough, he feels compelled to give him an answer to his feelings. 

Shindou moves from his previous position to end up facing Ibuki directly. He uses his available hand to lay it over the hand Ibuki is using to hold him. Ibuki flinches from Shindou’s straightforwardness but he decides to do the same and move his body to face him directly as well.  
Shindou starts caressing Ibuki’s hand before finally giving his answer, "Ibuki, I'm really speechless. I never expected this from you of all people but I guess it is proof that you've changed. I’m proud, I’m really proud of the person you’ve become."  
Ibuki blushes but stays silent.  
"Unfortunately, I don't know if I can reciprocate since this is... a bit too sudden for me. Right now, I don't know if I like you the same way either. Like I told you, I’m not interested in anyone currently and I’d hate myself if I had to lie to you just to make you happy."  
Ibuki can feel a pit in his stomach forming due to Shindou's words, he lowers his head in defeat and stops gripping his friend's hand.  
"Haa, I knew it. I knew it yet a part of me refused to give up.” Ibuki gives a defeated smile but Shindou proceeds to put his hands on Ibuki's cheeks, he raises Ibuki’s head so his friend can look back at him. Ibuki looks back in surprise, he can feel himself losing his focus to Shindou’s warm hands tenderly holding his cheeks.

"I haven't finished, you idiot." Shindou gives a warm smile despite the stinging words coming from his mouth. Ibuki has never seen this kind of expression from Shindou, a smile so warm that it could melt him right at this moment. Was Shindou an angel? Was he in heaven right now? The sight of Shindou was too heavenly right now for Ibuki’s eyes, it almost felt not real.

"I don't know my feelings yet but... you're the first person to start making me doubt myself like this. If you can manage to convince me that you can be a good boyfriend and make me fall in love, I'll accept your feelings." Shindou gets his face closer to Ibuki's and leans in to give him a short yet chaste kiss on the lips. Even though it was such a short kiss, it was enough to leave Ibuki as red as the sun itself with his big wide eyes looking at Shindou in complete shock. 

Ibuki finally snapped out of the trance and gets himself back together, "Shindou...! Does this mean…?!" Ibuki was about to lean in as well but Shindou lays his index finger on Ibuki's lips.  
"That's all you'll get from me for now. I was your first love, wasn't I? It's only fair for me to give you my first kiss. Trading one embarrassment for another one. But if you don’t prove yourself to me, this will truly be the only thing you’ll ever get from me." The boy smirks. Suddenly, Ibuki's competitive nature flares up and he starts flashing his signature confident smile.  
"Hah, you'll see. I'll prove to you that I'll be the best and only love you'll ever find AND you'll fall for me!! I won't give up, I'll never give up."  
"Looking forward to it, make sure to not disappoint me like you disappointed me as a goalkeeper from the start."  
"But I ended up proving to you that I was capable, wasn't I?! I became the one and only goalkeeper for Earth Eleven!"  
"Don't forget Shinsuke too."  
"Well, that's true. Shinsuke is a great goalkeeper too. BUT STILL! I WON'T GIVE UP, SHINDOU!!!" ‘Alright, Ibuki was getting a little bit too heated now’ Shindou thought. Shindou sighs and takes his book only to hit Ibuki in the head with it. Ibuki lets out a grunt from the hit and winces. 

"Now, now. That's enough. We've spent way too much time talking about this, start not disappointing me by just getting back to studying." Shindou goes back to sitting in front of the table and picks his textbook back up.  
"Uuugh, fine. I will." Ibuki groans, he reluctantly opens his book and takes his pencil back.  
The two finally go back to studying their subjects, Shindou reading and explaining their topic to Ibuki while Ibuki pays attention despite the boredom.  
While Shindou gives his usual explanations, Ibuki surprises him by holding the hand he has next to him.  
"Can I?" Ibuki asks, with a slight blush on his face.  
Shindou sighs but gives a small laugh shortly after.  
"This isn't what we agreed on but... fine, just this once." Shindou goes ahead and intertwines his fingers with Ibuki, while continuing focusing on explaining the topic to Ibuki. 

After such a weird turn of events, the two spend their afternoon held by the hand as if nothing just happened. Yet, for Shindou, this was just the start of his flourishing feelings for Ibuki.


End file.
